I didn’t get much further in the extremely popular beta for the haute-couture-asaurus action of Monster Hunter Wilds than perfecting the exact orange-to-white ratio of my cat. Not because I wasn’t having fun, but because I immediately started looking up GPU prices after playing for ten minutes. As such, I didn’t spend enough time with the combat to get a proper feel for it.
Cultural osmosis has once again allowed me to form an uneducated take, however, and I’m getting the sense there’s been some mixed reactions re: bonk quality. According to a clip shared on X by user Blue Stigma , there's a good reason for those misgivings. It's all about frames, you see.
If you felt like the combat in the MHWilds beta felt "off," it's not just you! As this short comparison video shows, Capcom seems to have reduced hitstop on most (if not all) weapon types in Wilds, leading to some weapons feeling worse than they did in prior games. pic.twitter.
com/PRIbkdEFTP The Oxford English Above Video defines 'Hitstop' as a brief animation pause the moment a weapon connects with an enemy, meant to sell you on that weapon's weight and power. The more frames in the hitstop, the more exaggerated the impact of the attack - up to a point. Blue Stigma uses the switch axe in Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate as an example.
The hitstop for its overhead swing lasts eight frames. The game runs at 30fps, so Blue Stigma reckons that’s about a quarter of second you’ve got to register how “pretty da.